Thursday, October 25, 2012

“We started with fewer products”

B&E: You have the highest retail presence and often in the same market you have more than one store. Doesn’t it end up in cannibalizing the sales of your products?

SS:
No, I don’t think so, we have huge portfolio to offer and we design two stores in the same locality in different ways. Say for instance, in one store the first floor has lifestyle products and second floor, sports goods. In the second store, the first floor has women’s apparel and the second floor, men’s; It might sound very simplistic, but this is indeed the strategy that helped us to run our stores in same locality, phenomenally.

B&E: What understanding of the Indian market did you have when you entered and what strategies did you adopt at the initial stage?

AJ:
When we entered, we saw that the sports market in India, unlike any other country was largely male dominated and so we thought that it’s not suggestible to launch our entire portfolio. We launched only those products which pertained to the choice of the male customer and we also kept our offerings limited only to cricket and athletics.



B&E: Tell us more about your future plans in the Indian market?

AJ:
We have entered the kids apparel segment and we would be entering into several other segments also, but not compromising with the brand equity of Reebok. Our vision is to establish Reebok as a most loved fashion and sports brand in India and we would be offering whatever a consumer requires to dress up for all possible occasions.

B&E: What are the environment factors that are peculiar to Indian market, and in your opinion and must be taken care of?

AJ:
As I said, in India the sports market was largely dominated by men; but within a decades time, there has been a radical shift as the focus also moved from cricket to other sports. This is a very good opportunity for organizations like us and then with changes in lifestyle, consumers are becoming more and more health conscious; so now being a sports brand, you will have to cater to all these needs.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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